Oct 5 Q&A with The Hollywood Kills

The Hollywood Kills are the self-proclaimed black sheep of their hometown of Nashville, TN, but they wear the badge with pride. Their new EP, Episode IV is a melting pot of five very diverse and fun to listen to songs, making this group a force to be reckoned with and a total standout, as they strive to be. Fans can check out their music video for “Señorita” below and pick up Episode IV now!

Interview by Dom Vigil

Congrats on the release of Episode IV! What about the EP are you most proud of?

Thank you very much! To be honest, we're proud of the EP as a whole product. We worked hard on every aspect of it from the songwriting to production and beyond.

Was there anything you really wanted to be able to accomplish or experiment with on the EP?

We really focused on making sure every song was a great song on its own. We wanted a product that would make the listener want to listen to every song and not skip any. We are often our own biggest critics. So knowing that we are all pleased with the final product is an accomplishment in itself!

I feel like there’s a really wide range of sound between the five songs on the EP, which is a great sort of taste test for new listeners. What would you like new listeners to be able to take away from Episode IV?

First of all, we take your first sentence as a major compliment! We truly pull influence from a wide variety of music styles, and we hope that the melting pot of variety will come together to create a sound specific and unique to The Hollywood Kills. With that being said, we hope to gain new listeners' respect as musicians and songwriters. We really pride ourselves on our craftsmanship.

I really love the silent film theme of your video for “Señorita” - where did the inspiration for the video come from?

Thanks! Being a completely independent band, we have to personally fund all of our ventures. So when brainstorming ideas for the video, we had to keep our budget as low as possible while still being creative. We're definitely some old school guys. So when the silent film idea came up in discussion we knew it could work because we knew it was something we could shoot and edit on our own. We had no idea it would turn out as well as it did though! The video still makes us laugh even though we've seen it thousands of times!

Can you tell us a little bit about the story behind the song?

We're just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to making poor decisions in our love lives. Señorita is the story of a few of those bad decisions put together. We can bet that everyone has dated someone who seemed great at first, but once you started to get to know that person they turned out to be a little bit crazy.

Being based out of Nashville and having been in bands before The Hollywood Kills, how do you feel the local music scene has shaped or affected the band?

Being born and raised in Nashville is such a blessing and a curse at the same time. There are so many great musicians here that you really have to have the want and desire to be great and to stand out. With that being said, there are tons of fantastic musicians to learn from, but there is also a ton of competition. Both of these aspects have made us a better band.

Is there anything that you’d like to be able to bring to your local scene?

We just want to be something different. Nashville is pretty full of folk and americana music right now. There's nothing wrong with that by any means, but we like being different. So we consider ourselves the black sheep in our own hometown, but we wear that like a badge of honor.

What would you like fans to be able to take away from your music or live shows?

We want people to get their money's worth with The Hollywood Kills. There's so much music out in the world today, so for someone to choose us we want to make sure they don't regret that decision. If you buy a The Hollywood Kills album or come to one of our shows, we want you to be satisfied knowing that we have spent a lifetime on this and gave it our best for you.

With Episode IV out now, what is the remainder of the year looking like for The Hollywood Kills?

Our bass player Preston is getting married this weekend, so that's a pretty big deal! We're all really excited for him and his fiancé. After he gets back from the honeymoon we plan on hitting the road to play more shows. We also are always writing and already have enough material to get back in to the studio to record more music for everyone.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

To anyone out there reading this, if you have a dream don't ever give up on it. Work your butt off. Don't listen to the naysayers and do what makes you happy!